Safe lock



Nov. 15, 1949 c. L. DODD 2,488,273

SAFE LOCK Filed Jan. 29, 1947 2 Sheeis-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

C.L.DODD a FIG. I 0 BY ATTORNEY FIG, 3

Nov. 15, 1949 c. L. DODD 2,488,273

SAFE LOCK Filed Jan. 29, 1 947 K 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 JNVENTOR. C. L. DODD ATTORNEY Patented Nov. 15, 1949 UNITED STAT ES ENT. OFF ICE SAFE LOGK" Clarence L. Dodd, Lindsay, Okla.

Application January 29, 1947, Serial No. 724,950

5 Claims.. (Cl. 70;1..7)

This-invention relates to improvements: in safe locks and more particularly to an improved anti robbery lock which becomes operative to prevent openingof the safe door only when the normal door-locking apparatus has been-damaged in an attempt to forcibly open the 'safe.

The usualsmall or mediumsize office safe has its-door provided with a'combinationlock; a han-' dl'e and-a set-ofdead*bolts along one or both verticaledges of the door; The handle is operatively connected-with'thedead bolts in such amanner that turning-the handle will move the dead-bolts between their retracted and extended positions, these bolts being heldin their extended or looking pos'ition'by a suitabledetent controlled by the usual combination lock so that the 'bolts may be withdrawn from theirlocki ng position only when the lock has been'operated according to the proper combination;

Unauthorized persons attempting to open such safesby force usually proceed by breaking off, the knob and outer; plate of the combination lock and then drivingthis lock inwardly with a punch. When the, combination lock has been driven out of its operative-position the dead bolts are released and the safe door may be opened by turning the handle in the proper direction. v

Various attempts lhave been made to provide suitable means, operative only when the combination lo'ckhas beendriven out. or damaged,.to automatically engage the. dead bolts or the lock-g ing bar to which the dead bolts are connected, and preclude movement of the deadboltsby the handlefto unlock the safe'door; These previously Proposed c devices have not met with any high degree of commercial success as they are either." too. expensive .and difficult to install, are not adaptable tov the, type jof safe generally used in ofiices and small business establishments, are not i dam-aging or destroying the safe.

Other objects and advantages will become ap par'entffroma considrationof the-followingdescription in conjunction-with the accompany- I ing drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 is an elevation of theinner sideofa conventiona-l safe *door'showing the safe locking mechanism a without the 1 improved anti-robbery locking or latching device-applied thereto;

Fig. 2, a view similar to Fig. 1 showing the application tothe conventio'nal'safe door of antirobbery 'lock-ingmeans' illustrative -of the invention with the locking means in its normal or inoperative position;

Fig:3, a --pers'pective View of the movable bar component of the anti-robbery locking means shown in Fig. 2;

Figr lfa fragmentary transverse sectional View fragmentaryportion of the improved safety lock I showinglatch'meanstwhich prevent release of the safety look .by an unauthorized person once theLsafety lock has .been actuated to operative position, the *latch means 'being shown in their normal or. inoperative position;

Fig." flfanfelevational View of a fragmentary portion;of the safety or anti-robbery locking means showing the latch means illustrated in.

positive, in their operation and hence do not adee. 40 Fig. 6 in its extended or operative position;

quatelyfprote'ct thejcontentsv of the. safe in.case ofaan.attempted. robbery,l or-..may be-easily releasedby a burglar by the simple. expedient of drillinga hole through the safe. door in any position..over a considerable area .of the door and inserting. an instrument through the holeto move theemergency or safety latch out of its latching. position, or render it impossible for anyone .to. reopenthe safe door oncethe emergency latch has, been set withoutcompletely destroying the safe.

Itlis aniobjectof the" present invention to provide "an improved anti-robbery loclcfor' safes of the' jtypef'usually located in busin'essi'ofi'icesor small "business establishments; which latching Fig. 8,.a view similartoFig. 7 showing the. latch means" in the positionincident to itsbeing retracted after an attempted robbery during which the safety ,lock has been set;

Fig. 9, a fragmentary View to an enlarged scale showing the parts of the anti-robbery device in inoperative position and with parts in section for greater clarity; and, r

Fig. 10, a perspective showing the-latch operv ating rod.'

With 'continued reference to they drawings and particularly to Fig.1, the safe door, generally indicated at 10, is provided with the-usual stepped, or: labyrin'thedge. l I, to whichrisrsecured .a thick Outer" plate 12' of durable material such as iron or steel. The door is supported on the safe by means of suitable hinges l3 and is provided with looking bolts or dead bolts l5 and it along the hinge edge and H and I8 along the free edge. The bolts l5 and It may be fixed in position and engage with the associated portion of the safe so that this edge of the door cannot be removed by disconnecting the hinges. The bolts l1 and i8 are slidable and are attached to a locking bar l9 which is substantially parallel to the vertical free edge of the door. The inner edge of the door is provided with an overlapping lip or flange and the locking means is disposed between this nuts threaded onto the screw threaded end portions of the rod.

The link or rod member 39 is connected to its opposite link or rod member 33 by a turn buckle 52 and the link member 40 is connected to its opposite link or rod member 35 by a similar turn buckle 43.

By means of the turn buckles 42 and 43 the position of the safety locking bar 29 relative to the locking bar l9 can be accurately adjusted so that when the bar 29 is tilted about its pivotal connections 30 and 3| its outer edge 44 will pass behind the inner edge 45 of the locking bar 19 and flange and the inner surface of the plate i2. The

flange 20 normally carries an inner or finish plate not illustrated which covers the door lockingmechanism. 7

The inner end of a handle 2| is engaged in a suitable slot in the locking bar l9 and is operative to move the locking'bar toward and away from the corresponding edge of the door, extending or retracting the bolts l1 and l8 between their door locking and door releasing positions. The locking bar |9 is guided by an arm22 offset from the inner edge of the bar, extending substantially at right angles therefrom and having a slot through which extends a guide pin 23 secured to the inner side of the plate l2. This locking bar also has extending therefrom an abutment in the form'of an arm 24, the outer end of which is engageable by one end of a pivoted detent 25. The other end of the detent engages notched discs 26 on the safe combination look. When the discs of the combination lock are all moved to the proper position the detent is released to turn about the pivotal mounting 21 and clear the end of the abutment arm '24 so that the locking bar and the dead bolts and I8 carried thereby may be moved by the handle 2| to'their retracted position to unlock the door. The combination lock is enclosed in asuitable housing, as indicated at 28. V

In the usual safe construction if the combination lock together with the housing 28 and detent 25 is driven inwardly through the door, the detent 25 will be moved out of position to engage the abutment arm 24 and the door may then be released by turning the operating handle 2|. Since explosives, cutting torches, and similar devices are expensive, diificult to obtain and operate and apt to cause detection of the robbery, most persons attempting to burglarize an oflice type safe will proceed in the manner indicated above by first breaking ofi the combination lock knob and then 1 driving the combination lock inwardly to free the locking bar. 7

The application of the improved anti-robbery or safety latch is clearly shown in Fig. 2. An

elongated bar 29 is provided at its ends with boltlike extensions 39 and 3|. which extend through plates 32, 33, 34 and 35 secured within the safe door. The plates 32 and 34 are preferably secured to the'door by suitable means such as welding or brazing and have their ends disposed 7 between the'inner surface of the outer door plate l2 and the overlying flange 20. The plates or 'rods 33' and 35 bear upon and are slidable relative to the corresponding plates 32 and 34.

Abutment members 31 and 38 are secured to the opposite or hinged edge portion of the door and carry corresponding baror link members 39 and 49 secured thereto by a suitable rod member 4| having externallyscrew threaded. ends passing through the abutments and the corresponding linkspand secured thereto by oppositely disposed turn buckles 42 and 43 to the hinged edge of the door so that the safety bar will adequately resist any pressure that may be placed upon it by force applied to the handle 2|.

An arm 46 is secured to the bar 29 for vertical adjustment and extends outwardly from this bar in position to overlie the combination lock housing 23 so that if the combination lock or the housing 28 are driven inwardly of the door they will contact the arm 46 and force it in the same direction thereby turning or tilting the bar 29 about its pivotal mountings from the position shown in Fig. 4 to the position shown in Fig. 5, in which last position its edge 44 engages behind the adjacent edge 45 of the locking bar l9.

A trigger arm 4'! also extends outwardly from,

the bar 29 but in the opposite direction from the arm 46 and carries at its outer end a pivotally mounted trigger 48 which contacts the adjacent side of locking bar l9 as the bar 29 is tilted to its fully operative position. This trigger member is operatively connected with latching means car-- ried by the bar 29 and fully illustrated in Figs. 6, '7, V

and 8. V

This latching means comprises a hollow rectangular housing 49 slidably mounted in a retangular recess 50 provided in the bar 29 and opening to the edge 44 thereof. A plurality of latch pins, as indicated at 5|. 52 and 53, are slidably mounted in the housing 49,

While three such latch pins have been illustrated, it is to be understood that one or any greater number of such pins may be used without in any way exceeding the scope of the invention. 7

These pins 5|, 52 and 53 each have a cylindrical outer end portion of somewhat reduced diameter and a cylindrical inner end portion of enlarged diameter providing intermediate the length of A common detent 58 is pivotally connected along one edge to the housing 49 by a suitable p hinge connection 59 and when in its normal position engages the shoulders 54, 55, and 56 to retain the pins 5|, 52 and 53 in their retracted position against the pin projectingforce of the re:

spasms-a sent siren as inset-rates h army ektehdlh aim Bi "which is engageajby the cb-i respdndihg angular-1y ester-rains endBQa or an l shaped rod 82, illiistia'ted Figs. "4 and 5; which extends through a'sui't'a b l'e bore in the arm 41 and is engaged at its 'oppdsite end by the pivoted trigger 48.

With this arrangement, when the safe com;- bination lock is driven in and the safety bar 29 is consequently tilted; the trigger 48 will strike the adjacent side of bar l9 as shown Fig. 5, and move the rod 62 inwardly, which rod acting through the arm 6| moves the detent 58 to release the latch pins 5}, 52 and 53. 'li hese pins thereuponengage behind the locking bar I9, as shown in Fig. 5, and the safety locking bar 2 9 cannot then be moved out of engagement with thelo'cliing bar f9 until these pin are retracted. if the p rson attempting; to burglarize the safe anus a hole through the door in any posh tioh "which will p'ei mit to insert a tool to engage the bar '29, he sun cannot turn this bar but of the way as i t is held in operative engage hint the locking bar by the extended or proieet'ei latch pins.

As an additional precaution, the arrangement is such that after the rod 62 has moved the detent suflic'ie'ntly to release 'the pins it subsequently passes over the end of arm 6! releasing the detent and permitting spring 63 to move the detent back to a position in which its edge opposite the hinge connection 59 engages behind the enlarged end portions of the pins and prevents the pins from being retracted.

After the safety or emergency lock has thus been tripped it isnot possible to open the safe door until the latch pins have been retracted and the bar 29 returned to its inoperative position. For this purpose a key operated cylinder lock 64 is mounted in recess 50 in bar 29 by suitable means such as arm 65 and provided with a radially extending cam 66 engaging the adjacent side of housing 49 and a depending member 61 disposed at the opposite side of the look from the housing. When this lock is rotated by a suitable key the cam 66 will move the entire latching mechanism comprising the housing 49, pins 5|, 52 and 53 and detent 58 backwardly in the recess 50 to the position illustrated in Fig. 8, which releases the pins from their engagement with the locking bar l9. Lateral pressure on the bar 29 will then rotate this bar to release the locking bar l9, whereupon the safe door may be opened by the handle 2|.

The lock 64 is set at an angle to the bar 29 such that its center line is substantially perpendicular to the surface of plate l2 when bar 29 is in its operative position as shown in Fig. 5 and is behind the door plate I 2, there being nothing on the outside of the door indicating the position of this look. This information is available however to an authorized person and an exact measurement can be made to locate the center of a hole which will permit insertion of the key into the lock 64. After the location of this center has been determined a hole is drilled through the door plate and the proper key inserted in the lock to release the emergency looking device. Thus, while the emergency locking device cannot be released by an unauthorized person, it can be released and the door opened by an authorized person without other damage to the safe than the drilling of a hole through the door. As it is usually necessary to obtain a new error anyway "and seen an attempted burglary, this is "nbt ah objectionable feature the remainder of the safe can be salvaged and a new door applied thereto.

The supports 32 to 40 inclusive for the safety locking are easily inserted in a conventional safe door and; in the case of an insulated door, require th removal of only a small portion bf the insulating material. The safety locking bar can be easily and accurately adjusted to its proper operative position and is positively sup= ported so that no force applied through the lock operating handle is sufficient to move this bar when it is in its operative position. The safety or emergency locking means cannot be released except by 'a person having exact knowledge of the location or the key lock and having a proper key to fit this look "but can be released by such a person without material additional damage to the safe.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes may be made in the invention without departing from the spirit and scope thereof and therefore the invention is not limited by that which is shown in the drawings and he scribed in the specification but only as inurcated in the "appended claims.

What is claimed isf -1. In a safe door having slidabl'e belts in at least one edge portion thereof, a locking bar eonneeted with said bolts, 'a handle pivoted in said door and operatively "connected with said looking bar to move said bolts, "a combination lock carried by said door, and "a detent actuated by said combination lock to hold said locking bar in position with said bolts extended or to release said locking bar for retraction of said bolts by said handle; a safety bar supported on said door substantially arand to said locking bar by pivotal connections at the ends thereof; an arm on said safety bar overlying said combination lock and operative upon driving in of said lock to tilt said safety bar to a position in which one edge thereof engaged behind said locking bar to restrain said locking bar against bolt retracting movement; latch means carried by said safety bar engageable with said locking bar to hold said safety bar in tilted position; a trigger arm on said safety bar; a trigger carried by said trigger arm movable by contact with said locking bar when safety bar is tilted, to release said latch means; and a key operated look within said door operative to retract said latch means and permit disengagement of said safety bar from said locking bar when a key is inserted therein through a hole drilled in said door.

2. In combination with a safe door having an outer plate supporting movable bolts, a locking bar connected to said bolts, a handle operatively connected with said locking bar to move said bolts, a combination lock and detent engageable with said locking bar to prevent retraction of said bolts by operation of said handle; a safety latching bar pivotally supported by said door in position when tilted to engage behind said looking bar and prevent retraction of said bolts; an arm attached to said safety bar and overlying said combination lock to tilt said safety bar into locking engagement with said locking bar if said combination lock is forcibly displaced; latch means carried by said safety bar to engage behind said locking bar and prevent disengagement of said safety bar therefrom; means releasably 1 holding said latch means in inoperative position, trigger means carried by said safety bar operative to release said latch means when said safety bar is tilted; and key operated lock means accessible only through a hole drilled through said outer door plate at a predetermined position operatively associated with said latch means to release said latch means and move said safety bar out of engagement with said locking bar.

3. An anti-robbery safety lock for an office safe comprising upper and lower adjustable supports secured to the inner side of the safe door; a safety bar substantially parallel to one edge of said door pivotally mounted at its ends on said supports; an arm projecting outwardly from said safety bar over the safe combination lock to rotate said safety bar to a position in which it engages behind the locking bar of the safe if the combination lock is forcibly displaced; latch means carried by said safety bar engageable with said lockingbar when said safety bar is tilted into operative position, and key controlled lock means accessible only through a hole drilled in an ex- ;actly known location in said door operatively associated with said latchv means to releas the same from engagement with said lock bar.

4. An anti-robbery lock for a safe to prevent opening of the safe door after the safe combination lock has been driven out of locking position comprising a bar pivotally secured at its ends to the safe door and located inside the door in position to tilt into edge to edge engagement with the locking bar carrying the locking bolts; an arm on said pivoted bar overlying the combination lock to tilt said pivoted bar into engagement with said locking bar; normally retracted latch means carried by said pivoted bar; and trigger means carried by said pivoted bar operative upon tilting of said pivoted bar to release said latch means to: engage with said lockingbar and maintain said pivoted bar in engagement therewith.

5. In combination with a safe door includin manually controlled door locking means, auxiliary anti-robbery locking means mounted on said door for movement to and from an operative or an inoperative position, said auxiliary locking means when in inoperative position permitting manual operation of said door locking means and when in operative position having means for engaging a portion of said door locking means preventing operation thereof to unlock said door, means on said auxiliary locking means engageable by said door locking means upon abnormal displacement thereof to move said auxiliary locking means to operative position, latch means on said auxiliary locking means operable by movement thereof to operative position to automatically and positively latch said auxiliary locking means in operative position and key controlled locking means accessible only through a hole drilled at an exact predetermined location through said door having means engaging said auxiliary locking means to move the same to inoperative position upon actuation of said key controlled locking means.

CLARENCE L. DODD.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,452,190 Claussen Apr. 17, 1923 1,546,299 McKown et a1 July 14, 1925 1,620,775 Meilink Mar. 15, 1927 

